Bolsonaro allies win control of Brazilian Congress
FEBRUARY 1, 202110:05 AM UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
By Anthony Boadle
3 MIN READ
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil’s Congress on Monday chose lawmakers endorsed by President Jair Bolsonaro as speakers of its two chambers, giving the far-right leader a base among center-right politicians with whom he had once vowed never to ally.
Senator Rodrigo Pacheco won the two-year term to head the upper chamber by a vote of 57-21. Another new Bolsonaro ally, Arthur Lira of the right-wing Progressive Party, later won the speakership of the lower house by 302 votes against 145 for his nearest rival.
Bolsonaro’s support for Pacheco and Lira underscores his embrace of a fragmented bloc of lawmakers known more for their horse-trading prowess than ideological commitments, called the ‘Centrão,’ or ‘Big Center.’
The president ran in 2018 on a pledge to clean up the capital and end decades of pay-to-play politics that culminated in a record-breaking corruption scandal known as Car Wash.
Lira faces charges of taking bribes in the Car Wash and other probes, although the cases have not advanced in the courts and some have been dismissed. His lawyers have denied any wrongdoing by their client.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics/bolsonaro-allies-win-control-of-brazilian-congress-idUSKBN2A12WY?rpc=401&
